Backpacking Great Barrier Reef, backpacker hostels, accommodation, tours and budget travel information

This is the information page for the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is over 2000 kilometres in length and is the most extensive reef system in the world. It starts around Bundaberg in Queensland's southeast and goes up to the Torres Strait Islands near Papua New Guinea.

Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef
Photographer: Murray Waite & Assoc.
Courtesy Tourism Queensland

Love Heart Reef
Photographer: Peter Lik
Courtesy Tourism Queensland

The Great Barrier Reef actually comprises around 2,600 separate reefs and the real Great Barrier Reef is the outer reef, which is at the edge of the Australian Continental Shelf. There are around 400 different types of coral in the reefs, about 1,500 species of fish, 350 echinoderms (sea urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers etc.), 4,000 types of mollusc (snails, clams, etc.) and thousands of other species of crustaceans, sponges and worms. There are also larger species found in the reefs like turtles, sharks, dugongs and humpback whales. The whales migrate from Antarctica every winter. On the islands and coral cays there are also many species of bird life.

There are many islands in the Great Barrier Reef system. There are the larger islands found mostly around the Whitsunday region. A lot of these usually have resorts on them. There are also many smaller islands or coral cays, which are usually found towards the outer reef. All these islands vary considerably on how you can get to them. Some have airstrips, while most require boat transport. Many of these islands are uninhabited by humans.

The Great Barrier Reef
Photographer: Murray Waite & Assoc.
Courtesy Tourism Queensland

The Great Barrier Reef
Photographer: Peter Lik
Courtesy Tourism Queensland

The best way to view this amazing reef is either by snorkelling, scuba diving or by viewing it through a glass bottom boat. There are many tour operators that provide tours to the reef and they are located at all major Queensland coastal towns and cities that lie next to the Great Barrier Reef.

Great Barrier Reef

Snorkelling on Hardy Reef
Courtesy Tourism Queensland